Even when the game seems to be working against me at every inopportune time, the drive to see the fate of Heinrich and Gretchen made me push forward. I'm glad I did. I didn't see the ending coming, and I love how the story concludes.

Knights Contract is a pretty normal hack and slash game. The gameplay is good and the two characters have a nice connection. You play with Heinrich, a brutal guy and you can't die. On the other hand the other character is Gretchen and she's weak, but has powerful powers. The game got its original elements, but is at no point really strong.

A sword combat game which is unbalanced in many aspects. Its difficulty curve is strange, being very easy until its difficulty suddenly leaps. Those who love the genre will like it, but the rest should consider more options.

Knights Contract reminds me of that friend from high school-I think maybe every guy might've had one like this growing up-who was way too into wrestling. For the most part he was a great guy, except for the times when he'd decide that a casual conversation was a perfect opportunity to throw me into an inescapable armbar, on which occasion I found myself wishing he was a dead person.

The combat, for the most part, is satisfying and visceral, and the story, at times, is genuinely compelling. A mostly entertaining experience, it's marred by some terrible flaws and a handful of moments of unadulterated rage; much, we'd expect, like actually selling one's soul.

This massively unbalanced game manages to produce tears of joy and tears of pain pretty much all at the same time. An awesome combat system can't quite fight off the vast army of frustrating annoyances.

But whatever "fun" might be experienced is abbreviated by a terrifyingly bad plot, and frustrating gameplay choices. While it's true that comparisons may be drawn to God of War, or Devil May Cry, they will always inevitably end with the statement: "Go play those instead."

A fantastic narrative wrapped in some decent combat and plagued by poor design decisions. This is actually more disappointing because there is something here you want to experience, but the shortcomings really keep you from doing so.

Even if it didn't want to become a new milestone in the action genre, Knights Contract had all the chances to be an entertaining game. Unfortunately many technical flaws kill the good gameplay and the enjoyable story.

Knights Contract can be enjoyable at times, but once players get into the thick of play, the questionable AI, level design, combat mechanics, and even visuals will make it more difficult to feel comfortable with.

Knights Contract seems to have strong qualities... at first. A sexy witch with interesting powers, which is ultimately too limited ; a super strong knight, which is uninspired in his fighting style; an atypical universe, which is finally overwhelmed... and the complementarity gameplay couldn't save this duo. They are not made for each other, as this title is repetitive and dated in many ways. Do not sign this contract!

Namco Bandai has failed to created anything that's actually enjoyable in Knight's Contract, likely due to poor QA and so many design revisions that the original concept of the game has mangled beyond all belief during the development process. It's absolutely frustrating to play through and ultimately joyless.

Knights Contract is essentially one, giant escort mission plagued by a myriad of gripes including horrendous AI. and repetitive combat. Despite its interesting concept, there is not enough on offer to salvage the game from the sheer magnitude of problems encountered throughout.

Escort missions are rarely any good, but for some reason Namco Bandai has decided to release a game based just on that. The occasionally decent combat action is nowhere near enough to make up for the otherwise tedious gameplay, horrendous dialogue, awkward QTEs, ugly graphics and prolonged yet mind-numbingly boring cut scenes. Avoid at all costs.

For the most part, Knights Contract is a monumental disappointment mainly because there are occasional glimpses at the fact that it could have been so much better. The frustrating combat, dull graphics, uneven acting, and insipid A.I. make it ultimately impossible to recommend even as a rental.

Ever had that nightmare? You know, the one where you're trapped in an endless escort mission with a suicidal blonde who insists on beingEver had that nightmare? You know, the one where you're trapped in an endless escort mission with a suicidal blonde who insists on being carried everywhere? No, wait, that's not a nightmare - that's this hack-and-slash buddy movie with witch-in-distress Gretchen. She does the magic, and you (witch killer-turned-protector Heinrich) do the slaying with a giant scythe. Heinrich is immortal, so your 'life' is actually Gretchen's, forcing you to protect her in battle as she goes on her mission to free the souls of spell casters. The basic premise grates a little. She's an all-powerful witch who can summon a giant guillotine to decapitate demons - but she still needs a big man to carry her about and open jars and stuff? Excuse me while I apply this lighter fluid to my boxers. That said, it's the slightly wonky gameplay that actually lets Knights Contract down. For one thing, the big burly hero isn't all that in combat. While Heinrich is immortal, he's also quite prone to falling down like an old lady on an icy pavement. There he's reduced to prodding things with his scythe until you hit X 30-40 times (yes, I counted) to get him back up. Or until he explodes into bits. Either way, there's X prodding. And while the design of enemies is actually pretty cool - weird wolves, witches with hollowed out rib cages, giant demons with gazillions of teeth - you start seeing the old familiar faces again and again, like some sort of horrific Groundhog Day. Also, for a game that's basically just one long frenzy, it's weirdly easy to end up following the wrong passageway until you loop back on yourself, especially in the snowy case level. (Wait, that endless expanse of white definitely looks familiar...) There are shades of Bayonetta in Gretchen's many spells - icy spikes that thrust from the floor, traps that grab and hold your enemy's limb so you can take a few cowardly swipes - and some enjoyable combo-filled fights to be had, but overall this is just another half-hearted adventure to leave on the shelf. Then buy Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow instead.…Full Review »

First off if you have played and enjoyed the best Action titles available such as Bayonetta, the Devil May Cry series and Ninja Gaiden seriesFirst off if you have played and enjoyed the best Action titles available such as Bayonetta, the Devil May Cry series and Ninja Gaiden series then you should definitely lower your expectations, as Knights Contract is of a completely different calibre to those games. Knights Contract is mostly a linear adventure with past chapters opening once completed to go back to at any time for collecting items. Combat, while not containing a tremendous amount of depth is extremely fun when combining both Heinrich's melee and Gretchen's magic attacks together. This is one area of Knights Contract where I am confident most will find their satisfaction. Also the story was decent if sometimes a little predictable early on, but it does get better as the game progresses. Bosses are large and are indeed a sight to behold. The fights themselves are almost on the God of War scale but probably not as well executed. There are some very frustrating moments in Knights Contract which detract from the overall experience, such as Gretchen's often suicidal A.I (she just seems to love standing in lava!), Quick Time Events that require near super human timing and the numerous cheap deaths during boss fights that would make even the calmest of gamers irritate. Graphically the game is of a pretty low standard. Enemies and Bosses are nicely designed with plenty of detail but the games surroundings have an overall lack of polish to them and could quite possibly pass for a 360 launch title. Sometimes background textures even take up to 10-15 seconds to load is some areas. Faults aside Knights Contract was an enjoyable experience for the most part. It may not be a top tier action title, but Knights Contract is worthy of at the very least a rental to fans of action games. If you do plan on buying it then I recommend waiting for the inevitable price drop, as flaws in games are easily forgotten when you get them at bargain prices.…Full Review »